This really is a true story, and for that I’m shocked. (I just couldn’t use real names.)

I have a friend who works in health care, at a relatively high profile hospital. He emailed me the other day to tell me that he HAD to get a flu shot for work. I was surprised by his emphasis on HAD, so I called him up to verify. As it turns out his high profile employer was mandating that all employees with face-to-face interaction with patients HAD to get a flu shot within a certain period of time or their employment would be terminated.

Is that even legal? I couldn’t believe it.

Then…

I get another email from the same friend. He’s at an all day meeting with his employer. Within the email is a photo of danishes, bagels, and muffins being served for breakfast during the meeting. No fruit to be seen, no protein anywhere, just sugar and flour. Later I get the lunch update, mayo based salads served as sandwiches, chips, and cookies. Not even an apple or a simple vegetable tray.

Seriously?

I think message is twisted. Mandate flu shots but serve crap for meals. This employer, and I’m sure many more, have a lot of evaluating to do.

Let’s at least try a little bit of this the next time you host an employee meeting (which like the flu shot is also mandatory!)

It doesn’t really matter if we’re talking about healthcare, youth obesity, or if it was you or your sibling that broke your mother’s favorite vase.

Blame isn’t an attraction factor, and is often always someone else’s fault.

It’s easier to point blame at someone else rather than admit you’ve made a mistake yourself.

But here’s the part we all ought to remember, no one is perfect. I don’t care if you think you are, we all have a fault or two, or twenty. We’re all bound to make a mistake, or two, or twenty. When it comes down to it, the only time your mistakes are really bad is when you haven’t learned from one and it happens again.

So where’s the blame lay in the health and fitness world? It’s all over the place. infomercials are telling us to buy the new latest and greatest gadget that will change our lives forever, doctors are telling us to do more cardio, mypyramid.gov tells those with an athletic build that they are overweight and possibly obese, and well everyone has a conflicting view point so it’s easy to blame everyone else since there are so many options that you don’t know what to do.

I’m sure you’ve also either used the excuse or at least heard, there just isn’t enough time, working out costs too much, I’ll get back at it next week. Really the only excuse that I’m willing to accept is that you don’t know what you’re doing. There’s too many conflicting view points.

On that topic I will say this, even if you don’t know what to do, find someone good who can tell you and show you, but then stick to it, stick to the plan, follow the workout, make good food choices. Some programs are far more effective than others, but the key to most of them is being consistent and compliant. It’s really that simple.

There’s no blame to be seen if you really give it you’re all. You’ll see the results for yourself.

All nutrition, exercise, fat loss, strength training programs require compliance. It’s really quite simple, most things will work if you follow and stick to the plan. There are some options that are far greater than others, but that’s not what this post is about.

This one is about Compliance and Sabotage.

I think it’s safe to say that we’re all in agreement that in order to see results you need to follow the plan.

The part we often overlook is the sabotage part. There are two sides to this one too, which makes it even more dreaded.

The first is yourself. For whatever reason, things are going really well, then all of a sudden you fall of the wagon, start slipping on your nutrition, skip a day at the gym. These are things you can fix. Hold yourself accountable.

The second is those around you. It sounds crazy, but I’m sure you’ve all been out with friends and they give you crap for ordering a salad when everyone else is ordering a burger, or that you chose water over beer. Worse is when you get a mouthful for wanting to hit up the gym before meeting up. These are people who for whatever reason aren’t wanting you to succeed. Perhaps it’s because they don’t think they can do it themselves. While you’re on this mission you might need to limit your interaction.

All of the programs I listed above require a supportive environment. It’s tough to do that when those around you give you crap for wanting to make a healthy change in your life.

Here we go again…I’ve heard a bunch more excuses on why people can’t fit a workout into their day.

Now it has to do with the kids being out of school, or it’s too hot, or not having enough energy at the end of the day.

I can answer those three for you right now…

Take your kids outside to play, they need the fresh air and exercise just as much if not more than you do.

It’s been beautiful lately, but even if you’re overly sensitive to the sun and heat, most gyms are still indoors and they have the a/c on. If this isn’t enough for you then make your workout revolve around swimming.

If you don’t have enough energy at the end of the day, try working out first thing in the morning. For many folks, this is the preferred time of day. You can also make sure you are fueling your body with the appropriate nutrition and a decent amount of sleep.

There’s always time for a workout, even if it’s a short one, something (to an extent anyway) is always better than nothing.